PROGRAMMES
A. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION In pursuance of the NPE, 1986, the Department of Education launched a number of measures for the educational development of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in addition to continuing the existing programmes, The programmes cover all stages of education.
I. Elementary Education Universalisation of Elementary Education : Article 45 of the Constitution enjoins upon the state the responsibility to provide free and compulsory education to all children up to the age of 14 years. In pursuance -of the Constitutional directive, a number of measures have been taken up by the Department of Education for Universalisation of Elementary Education (UEE). Special measures are included in these programmes for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Provision of access is the primary concern in UEE. In order to enhance the access to primary education by the SC and ST children. the norms for opening of primary schools, which are generally one Km. walking distance from habitations of 300 population, has been relaxed in the case of SC and ST habitations in whose case the norm is to have a primary school within one Km. walking distance from habitations of 200 population. All state governments have abolished tuition fees in government schools at least up to upper primary level. In most of the States, education is also free in the schools run by local bodies and in private aided institutions.
Most of the States provide assistance to students belonging to economically backward, SC and ST communities for meeting other costs of education, such as textbooks, uniforms, school bags, transport, etc.: their number, however. is quite small. According to the Fifth All India Education Survey Report for the year 1986. free uniforms were provided to 146,36,266 children at the primary and upper primary stage$, which constitute only about 12 per cent of the enrolled elementary stage students. At all stages of school education. 160.73,242 students got free uniform. Among them, 33.04 per cent belong to SC and 11.50 per cent to ST Girls constitute 49.98 per cent. Out of the beneficiaries 77.44 per cent are in rural areas.
Operation Blackboard: Operation Blackboard is designed to provide minimum essential infrastructure in the primary schools. Launched in 1987, in pursuance of the National Policy on Education, 1986, it had three objectives-(a) to provide atleast two teachers in all primary schools: (b) to ensure that every school has essential teaching learning material' and (c) to provide each school at least a two roomed all weather building. As of 31st August. 1995, 522,902 primary schools have been sanctioned teaching learning material. 150,000 posts of teachers have been sanctioned, out of which 125,000 posts have been filled up. Approximately. half the posts have been filled by women. 150,000 school rooms have been constructed. An amount of Rs. 1.280 million has been spent on the scheme till now. It is proposed to cover all the remaining primary schools under the scheme of Operation Blackboard during the remaining period of the Eighth Five Year Plan. This would mean that all the primary schools located in SC/ST habitations will be covered under Operation Blackboard. The scheme is being expanded to provide 3 teachers and 3 rooms to primary schools and also to cover the upper primary stage. The State Governments have been instructed to accord priority to areas of concentration of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes while implementing the expended scheme of Operation Blackboard.
Non-Formal Education : Non-Formal Education (NFE) is seen as a vital aspect of India's current strategy on education as it can reach out to working children, girls and those children who cannot attend full time schools due to several socio- economic factors. Implemented through state governments and voluntary organisations, the NFE programme draws on a high level of community participation and is characterised by flexibility relevance and a decentralised administrative structure. The benefits of the scheme are accruing to the children of all communities including those of SC and ST So far, 260.000 NFE centres; have been set up catering to 6.5 million children. About 100.000 centres are exclusively for girls. Over 450 NGOs are implementing NFE.
District Primary Education Programme : The District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) is conceived as a beach head for overhauling the primary education system in India. Building upon accumulated national experience as well as drawing from the best features of several state level initiatives. the programme is being implemented in the mission mode. The DPEP moves away from the earlier schematic, piecemeal approach and takes a holistic view of
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elementary education, emphasises decentralised management and community mobilisation and undertakes district and population-specific planning. It is a scheme sponsored by the Central Government and the Central share of funding has been raised from multilateral and bilateral sources. DPEP goes beyond conventional packages such as opening of new schools and appointing teachers and addresses issues of content. process. quality and equity in education. The programme takes an integrated view of pedagogic issues in primary education development and seeks to build and strengthen institutional capacity in the states as well as local levels. so as to address the challenges of UEE.
The DPEP has been prepared in pursuance of the strategy of district specific projects envisaged in the Programme of Action (POA) 1992. The specific objectives of DPEP are:
(i) to reduce differences in enrolment, dropout and learning achievements among gender and social groups to less than five per cent.
(ii) to reduce overall primary drop-out rates for all students to less than 10 per cent.
(iii) to raise average achievement levels by at least 25 per cent over measured baseline levels and ensuring achievement of basic literacy and numerary competencies and a minimum of 40 per cent achievement levels in other competencies, by all primary school children; and
(iv) to provide, according to national norms, access for all children, to primary education classes (I-V), i.e.. primary schooling wherever possible, or its equivalent non-formal education.
The criteria for selection of districts have been that those districts where female literacy rate is lower than the national average according to the 1991 census and where Total Literacy Campaigns have successfully generated a demand for education.
The target is to cover 110 districts in a phased manner during the Eighth Five Year Plan period. So far. 42 districts in the seven states of Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra. Tat-nil Nadu. Kerala. Haryana, Karnataka and Assam have been covered under the programme. These are : Dhubri. Darrang. Morigaon and Karbi in Assam; Sirsa. Hissar, Jind and Kaithan in Haryana; Kolar, Madhya. Belgaum and Raichut in Karnataka; Kasargod, Waynad and Malpuram in Kerala; Aurangabad. Osmanabad. Nanded. Parbhani and Latur in Maharashtra; Dharmapuri, Thiruvannamalai Sambuvarayar and South Arcot in Tamil Nadu; and Sidhi. Raigarh, Sarguja, Guna, Panna. Tikamgarh, Shahdol, Dhar, Chhatarpur, Schore, Raisen. Raigarh, Rewa, Bilaspur, Satna, Rajnandgaon, Mandsaur, Ratlam and Betul in Madhya Pradesh.
Out of these districts. 9 districts in Madhya Pradesh. namely, Sidhi, Sarguja, Bilaspur. Dhar, Shahdol, Ratlam, Raigarh, Rajnandgaon and Betul are predominantly tribal districts with tribal sub-plan areas.
The DPEP specifically provides for developing strategies for tribal districts for improving primary education of Scheduled Tribes along with implementation plans and budgets, allocating projects resources for tribal students at least in proportion to the share of the tribal population in relevant DPEP districts.
Studies were conducted in 15 districts of seven states with a view to assess the present status and identify special needs of tribals so that tribal specific programmes can be developed. Specific interventions for education of tribals are as below:
- New Schools in tribal habitation
- Strong linkages with other central and state programmes like Integrated Childhood Development Services (ICDS) and Creches which would help siblings being taken care of so that girl child can attend to school
- Supplementary instructional material in tribal languages
- Tribal sensitisation of teachers and educational administration
- Appointment of tribal teachers
- Thrust to training of teachers in tribal languages
- Ashram Schools
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- Bilingual primers (Tribal language and Hindi)
- Tribal area specific textbooks
- Rationalisation of Administrative structure in Madhya Pradesh. Schools were hitherto managed by Tribal Welfare and School Education Department. Now in tribal districts they all would be managed by Tribal Welfare Department, in other districts by School Education Department. Academic and Training support by SCERT.
One of the major parameters of the programme is that States would allocate project resources for tribal students at least in proportion to the share of the tribal population in the district population. For example, in Madhya Pradesh Rs. 197.63 crore is allocated for tribal districts of Madhya Pradesh out of total of Rs. 454.79 crore proposed for district level interventions. This comes to 40 per cent of the funds which is higher than the proportion of tribal population.
Lok Jumbish: The goal of Lok Jumbish is to achieve education for all by 2000 A.D. in Rajasthan. The programme is aimed at enhancing access and participation in basic education system and focus specially on children from disadvantaged section of society. The project develops special strategies to reach out to SC/ST children through micro-planning at the village level. The project is also distributing free school uniforms and textbooks and provide for construction of low cost hostels and Ashramshalas for the children of SCs and STs families. The Lok Jumbish Project extends to the following SC/ST concentration blocks. They are:
SC Concentration Blocks ST Concentration Blocks
Kishanganj Garhi
Chohtan Shahbad
Jhalarapatan Bichhiwara
Pratapgath
Jhadol
Thanagazi
II. Secondary Education Free Education: Education is free up to secondary level (class X) in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar (Govt.Schools). Himachal Pradesh (Govt. Schools), Karnataka, Tamil Nadu (Govt. Schools) and Lakshadweep. In the States of Arunachal Pradesh. Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala. Sikkim (Govt. Schools), Tripura, West Bengal, Andaman & Nicobar. Dadra Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Pondicherry and Madhya Pradesh free education is provided even up to senior secondary stage (class XII). Gujarat offer free education up to class XI for boys and class XII for girls. In Haryana (Govt. Schools), Punjab (Govt. Schools), Manipur, Rajasthan (Govt. Schools). Otter Pradesh. Delhi and Chandigarh, education is free up to class VIII for boys and girls. However, Haryana (Govt. Schools), Maharashtra, Rajasthan (Govt. Schools). Uttar Pradesh and D&N Haveli offer free education for girls up to XII. In Maharashtra. education is free up to class VII for boys in Govt. Schools. Meghalaya and Mizoram offer free education for boys -and girls up to class VII and class X respectively.
Navodaya Vidyalayas: In order to provide good quality modern education to talented children, predominantly from rural areas, Government of India launched a scheme in 1985-86 to establish Navodaya Vidyalayas, on an average of one school in a district. So far. three hundred and fifty Navodaya Vidyalavas have been established in 24 States and 6 Union Territories. Class-wise enrolment in schools as of 31st March, 1994 is given in Table 3:
TABLE 3
ENROLMENT IN NAVODAYA VIDYALAYAS AS OF 31.3.1994
Class Non-SC/ST SC ST Total
VI 13449 4855 3083 21187
VII 12426 4218 2408 19052
VIII 10992 3316 1822 16130
IX 9352 2868 1387 13607
X 9304 3044 1515 13868
XI 5550 1667 836 8053
XII 5148 1400 762 7310
Total 66121 21368 11813 99302
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The admission figures reveal that as of 31st March. 1994 scheduled caste students account for 21.52 per cent and scheduled tribe students 11.90 per cent of the total enrolment. State-wise enrolment of SCs and STs in these schools is given in Annexe-iv
In the Navodaya Vidyalayas, reservation of seats in favour of children belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is provided in proportion to their population in the concerned district, provided that in no district such reservation is less than the national average. For appointment of staff. the guidelines issued by the Government of India for reservation of seats for SC and ST candidates are being followed by die Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, its regional offices and Vidyalayas.
Kendriya Vidyalayas: The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangthan (KVS) was set up in 1965 to establish and run schools primarily for catering to the educational needs of the children of transferable central government employees, including defence personnel, whose education was handicapped owing to frequent transfers of their parents from one linguistic region to another and the resultant change in the course of study The Organisation is fully financed by the Government of India. As of 31st March. 1995, there are 818 Kendriya Vidyalayas.
The Kendriya Vidyalayas have reserved 15 per cent and 7.5 per cent of fresh admissions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, respectively. Qualifying standards are relaxed. if necessary, for SC and ST candidates.
As of 30th April. 1994, there were, in 796 Kendriya Vidyalayas. 70.096 scheduled caste and 16,622 scheduled tribe students accounting for 10.30 per cent and 2.44 per cent respectively of the total enrolment.
Reservation of 15 per cent for Scheduled Castes and 7.5 per cent for Scheduled Tribes is followed in recruitment of teachers in the Kendriya Vidyalayas. The following concessions and relaxations are allowed to SC/ST candidates at the time of recruitment:
(a) No application fee is charged from SC/ST candidates.
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(b) All eligible SC/ST candidates are called for interview irrespective of their cut off marks, wherever sufficient number of candidates are not available.
(c) Age relaxation of five years is allowed.
(d) Separate interviews are conducted under the relaxed standards.
(c) Five grace marks are allowed to SC/ST candidates by the Interview Board.
(f) If necessary. posts reserved for SC/ST are advertised separately
(g) A Member belonging to SC/ST is included in the Selection Committee DPC.
III. University and Higher Education University Grants Commission: SC/ST candidates are provided relaxation up to IO per cent cut off marks for the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) test and all the SC and ST candidates qualifying for the JRF are awarded Fellowship. In case no vacancy is available, UGC provides supernumary positions of JRF to the Universities.
Fifty Junior Research Fellowships are awarded every year in Science and Humanities including Social Sciences, to SC/ST candidates who appear in National Eligibility Test (NET) and qualify the eligibility test for lecturership.
With a view to provide opportunities to teachers belonging to SC/ST categories working in affiliated Colleges, 50 Teacher Fellowships (20 for Ph.D. and 30 for WWI) have been instituted under the University Grants Commission (UGC) scheme of direct award to teachers belonging to SC/ST categories. UGC awarded 50 Teacher Fellowships (20 Ph.D. and 30 M.Phil) during 1993-94.
Forty positions of Research Associateships are set aside for SC/ST candidates every year. During 1993-94 UGC finalised the list of 40 awardees for the year 1992 and also invited applications for awards pertaining to 1993.
UGC provides relaxation in criteria for financial assistance to colleges having SC/ST enrolment and to those located in backward regions.
The Commission has prepared a scheme of remedial courses for SC& ST in Universities and Colleges. Such Universities/Colleges having enrolment of more than 15 per cent are eligible to apply for assistance.
The remedial coaching is to be orgnised at Under Graduate/Post-Graduate level with a view to (a) improving academic skill and linguistic proficiencies of the students in various subjects and (b) to raising the level of comprehension of students in such subjects where quantitative technics and laboratory work are involved so that necessary guidance and training provided under the programme may enable the students to come to the level necessary for pursuing higher studies efficiently. Coaching classes in the Universities and Colleges may also cover pre-entrance examination/test for admission to various courses.
Special Cells in various Universities/Institutions have been set up with a view to ensure effective implementation of the various schemes for Scheduled Castes/Tribes students.
* In 1993-94, the UGC accepted-proposal from two universities for setting up of special cells, thus raising the total number of such cells to 97.